PrintTicket Giveaway: Japanese Food and Drink Demo and Tasting
Friend of Serious Eats, journalist, and blogger Harris Salat will be moderating a special event at EN Japanese Brasserie this Sunday, April 6. We have 2 seats (the winner and a guest) to give away to the event.
To enter to win, leave a comment below describing your favorite Japanese dish. You have until 5 p.m. ET Friday (April 4) to enter. One winner will be chosen at random from among eligible commenters. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply. Event details follow the jump.
EN Japanese Brasserie presents: Rice, Dashi and the Four Brews: A Demonstration and Tasting
Sunday, April 6 at 4 p.m.
$80 per person (seating is limited)
Here's a little secret about Japanese cooking: Understand just six foods and you can prepare almost any dish. Join En Japanese Brasserie's award-winning Chef Yasuhiro Honma for a fascinating look at these building block ingredients—rice, dashi and "the four brews" (sake, soy sauce, mirin and miso). Through an entertaining discussion, demonstration and tasting, the chef will introduce the fundamentals of Japanese cuisine: What is the role of rice? How do different dashi match seasonal ingredients? What is the common thread linking the four brews? This event includes a very special sake tasting led by Henry Sidel, the president of Joto Sake (www.jotosake.com), and Mr. Niichiro Marumoto, the 6th generation owner of the Marumoto Sake Brewery. The moderator is journalist Harris Salat, who has written about Japanese food culture for The New York Times, Saveur and Gourmet. To reserve or for more information, please call 212-647-9196 x204 or visit www.enjb.com.
Comments are closed: 55 Comments:
zaru soba
chestnutflour at 5:31PM on 03/31/08
Tonkotsu Ramen!!
soeun_lee at 5:48PM on 03/31/08
Okonomiyaki, with beer or liquor.
Young at 5:58PM on 03/31/08
Katsudon, preferably made with pork.
marshimalo at 6:14PM on 03/31/08
soba noodles
brooke29 at 6:30PM on 03/31/08
"Yuba Shabu tofu cord cooked in a earthware pot"--a bittersweet favorite as it is no longer offered at Yakitori Totto, the only place I've personally had the delight of experiencing it. And what delight! Wonderful, thin strips of yuba cooked in a bubbling pot filled with a magical concoction (soy something perhaps) then eaten, always, just a little too hot. Alas, it is no longer on the menu--quite possibly because of diners like me, who accidentally caused a small eruption after not tending the pot. Forgive!
Duckwise at 6:32PM on 03/31/08
A well-executed hand roll. Pristine fish, surrounded by the perfect amount of rice, with crispy nori on the outside.
floretbroc at 6:41PM on 03/31/08
That would have to be Onsen Tamago for sure. Literally it means hot spring egg as it's traditionally cooked in a hot spring. But this is no ordinary boiled egg. The trick is to slowly raise its internal temperature to 160 degrees. The yolk comes out firm yet silky smooth and the white is like a loose custard that melts as it hits your tongue. Served in a dashi broth it makes for a simple accompaniment to a bowl of rice for breakfast, but it's fantastic in soups, pastas and on salads.
norecipes at 6:51PM on 03/31/08
ramen
Rocky at 7:12PM on 03/31/08
I love yakitori, grilled chicken bits, offals, hearts...yum yum!
foodiegirl at 7:12PM on 03/31/08
homemade silken tofu with shaved smoked bonito on top. mmmmmm!
cybercita at 7:23PM on 03/31/08
Okonomiyaki, soft in the middle with plenty of mayo sauce on top or omu-rice.
brooklynchower at 8:30PM on 03/31/08
a well made sushi roll with super fresh fish.
anado at 9:16PM on 03/31/08
Niku Jaga - Japanese meat and potato
mikaque at 10:02PM on 03/31/08
Unagi tofu in a clay pot....mmmm, wintertime comfort food at its best.
dragonroll at 10:12PM on 03/31/08
How appropriate that you ask this question today as I just made a first attempt at making my favorite Japanese dish at home last night. AND, it happens to include 2 of the 4 ingredients listed in this post...mirin and miso. I love Baked Cod with Miso Sauce!! Really any white fish will work, but cod is my favorite. I had had this dish in a few different restaurants and love it. My attempt at home didn't go quite as well, but I will continue to work to perfect it.
susanboat at 10:28PM on 03/31/08
Miso soup. Is there anything better on a cold fall day (or cold spring day if you live in Chicago)?
KilgoreTrout at 10:35PM on 03/31/08
Salmon Teriyaki. Please forgive...
sbrachman at 10:56PM on 03/31/08
Definitely yakitori, because it exemplifies the simplicity of Japanese cuisine: good, fresh chicken meat and offal with just the right amount of seasoning to bring out the chickeny or livery or hearty flavor.
Joseph Bayot at 10:58PM on 03/31/08
um, a California roll?
thesu at 11:01PM on 03/31/08
though its considered a condiment, freshly grated wasabi can significantly improve the quality of even less than par sushi. its such a pleasant surprise when your (very expensive) omakase sushi is accompanied by freshly grated wasabi instead of the artificial &all too pungent tube variety. fresh wasabi leaves your nasal passages clear, but not burning. the texture is fine with a slight bite, &does not require any repeated stabbing of the chopsticks action as it dissolves instantaneouly into your soy sauce. i find myself enjoying fresh wasabi like others would pickled ginger with my meals.
eater_eater at 7:41AM on 04/01/08
takoyaki from Otafuku.
MH5534 at 8:06AM on 04/01/08
besides the sashimi & sushi, it would have to be the curry tonkatsu over rice
mchow at 8:58AM on 04/01/08
Mochi ice cream! Dessert counts as a dish, right??
Koreanita at 10:39AM on 04/01/08
sashimi... and spicy seaweed salad
hilarybrooke at 10:43AM on 04/01/08
tonkatsu!
erha2 at 10:52AM on 04/01/08
garlic miso tuna don... seared with all that flavorful goodness on the outside, but soft and fresh in the middle... the one at sobaya is great!
nycvivi at 10:54AM on 04/01/08
my favorite Japanese dish is unagi over rice
Bosmer at 11:02AM on 04/01/08
spicy tuna roll, a guilty pleasure of mine
thewoundedchef at 11:13AM on 04/01/08
yellow tail collar with salt or soy ! the BEST
yrrab at 11:23AM on 04/01/08
Tuna Tartar with garlic kojichan and wasabi sauce: the sweet, buttery undertones of pillow-soft, sashimi-grade fish aciduated by citrus spiked streaks of bright chili sauce.
willwork4foodie at 11:28AM on 04/01/08
I had this amazing braised pork belly at Sakagura.. I could live in that place if I could afford it.
DanielJ at 11:56AM on 04/01/08
Age tofu and tempura vegetables.
Stufsocker at 12:18PM on 04/01/08
The first meal after landing in Tokyo in the aftermath of a typhoon in 1981: misoshiru, grilled fish (shioyaki) with oroshi (grated daikon), hot steamed rice, tsukemono (daikon pickles), sunomono (cucumber salad), ocha and of course, some cold sake. Variations of this are standard in Japanese American homes, a Japanese canteen at Camp Zama------this is great country food. While your chefs may consider mirin a key "brew", satosu, a combination of vinegar and sugar disolved over heat is much more important. Japanese cooks can make a lot of substitutuions but none of your six ingredients contain vinegar.
mmatsunaga at 12:53PM on 04/01/08
i have to say i do love ramen!
katief at 1:02PM on 04/01/08
Hijiki salad, or actually any seaweed salad. I also love really chewy udon noodles (in almost any form).
bauwau2u at 1:18PM on 04/01/08
definitely age tofu... and any type of grilled fish... soo good!
sassysprite at 1:33PM on 04/01/08
Fresh, wonderful ramen.
jraphs at 2:21PM on 04/01/08
freshly made tofu -- nothing beats that sweetness of soy.
aa1158 at 2:27PM on 04/01/08
Udon is definitely my favorite Japanese dish.
ScrumpyJack at 3:03PM on 04/01/08
shoyu ramen
foodinmouth at 3:29PM on 04/01/08
Sushi, any kind of fish as long as it's super fresh.
ScienceandtheCity at 4:03PM on 04/01/08
Shrimp tempura. Who doesn't like shrimp and fried things are generally delicious.
berfa421 at 5:13PM on 04/01/08
pork ramen
winkyj at 6:15PM on 04/01/08
sukiyaki
yummytummy at 7:01PM on 04/01/08
Baked Mochi. It's best when it is a little bit warm but fine at room temperature as well.
HippoParade at 9:01PM on 04/01/08
hakata ramen!
lisenz at 10:44PM on 04/01/08
does the dynamite from Ave A Sushi count as Japanese?
jinhee at 12:12AM on 04/02/08
dobin mushi
mkojulie at 8:40AM on 04/02/08
tempura udon
AnaisKoi at 1:07PM on 04/02/08
moochi with angko (red bean) inside... yum.
cariden at 5:45PM on 04/02/08
a tie between mochi and mochi
orinky at 6:20PM on 04/02/08
This question is like asking to choose between children!
If I had to choose just one dish as my favorite in all Japanese cuisine, it would be the pairing of hot, steamy salted edamame with a cold quality sake. That would be perfection.
Amandarama at 11:00AM on 04/03/08
Slow poached, massaged octopus. So tender. Wow.
em at 1:37PM on 04/04/08
Congrats to our winner, yrrab! We'll be emailing you shortly with all the details. Thanks to everyone for playing along.
Alaina Browne at 6:06PM on 04/04/08